Profile Evaluation for Masters in Economics

[munchkin]

Hi,

 

I am interested in applying for a Masters program in Economics for Fall 2016. My profile details are as :

 

University: Indian Institute of Technology (top university in India)

Program : MSc Economics- 5 year bachelor & masters integrated

GPA: 7.5/10 (3.0/4.0)

Undergrad & post-grad GPAs are not given separately officially

My unofficial GPA with only economics courses would be : 8.2/10

 

Math & Statistics Courses: Real Analysis, Linear Algebra & Differential Equations, Calculus, Probability & Statistics, Time Series, Statistical Simulation & Data Analysis

 

Work experience: Working in Analytics division of a top-4 consulting firm for the last 2 years- Not very relevant work experience, but most of my work is very statistical in nature

 

Research Experience

- Masters thesis on a topic in Devl. Economics: Awarded Best Project award for Masters thesis

- Couple of research projects as part of semester coursework

 

Internships

- With leading economics research institution at India (co-authored a paper here)

- Business newspaper (published a couple of articles in the newspaper)

 

GRE:

327 overall (168 Q/ 159 V), 4.00 Analytical Writing

 

LORs:

One from my thesis professor (at IIT), one from my supervisor at the policy think-tank, from a manager at my consulting firm

 

Concerns: IITs are not yet well known for economics programs abroad, Poor GPA, No very relevant work experience, Not a lot of research experience

 

Reasons for applying for Masters: I would want to do a Phd later, but since my undergrad grades aren't very good, so getting into a good school for Phd unlikely

 

Questions:

1. Please suggest me a couple of good Masters programs (general/applied/Devl. economics) I can apply to primarily in US (or Canada), & maybe UK where I have a shot at getting through with my profile. The programs should be a good preparatory platform for Phd in economics later.

2. I am very interested in Development Economics/Public Policy. Would it be a good idea to apply for a masters in Devl. Eco or public policy. Again, considering I don't have relevant work-ex, getting into a good program would be difficult. Any suggestions around this?

 

Thanks!